Fanfare for the Common Man

• Copland composed this piece in 1942. It is scored for brass and percussion.¹
• In 1942 Eugene Goossens, conductor of Cincinnati Symphony, commissioned many different American composers to write patriotic fanfares to support America’s war effort. Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man was one of them.²
• This title of this work is a quote from Henry Wallace, FDR’s Vice President, who called the 20^th century “the century of the common man.”³

“Its title is as interesting as the music, and I think it is so telling that it deserves a special occasion for its performance. If it is agreeable to you, we will premiere it on March 12, 1943 at income tax time.”

Eugene Goossens, to Copland⁴

“I was all for honoring the common man at income tax time.”

Copland, in response⁵

“It was the common man, after all, who was doing all the dirty work in the war and the army. He deserved a fanfare.”

Aaron Copland⁶

1. Howard Pollack, “Copland, Aaron,” Grove Music Online (2013), accessed August 22, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002249091.
2. Vivian Perlis, “Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man,” Boosey & Hawkes (1988), accessed August 22, 2019, https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Aaron-Copland-Fanfare-for-the-Common-Man/2857.
3. Michael Steinberg, “Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man,” The San Francisco Symphony (2017), accessed August 22, 2019, https://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/Copland-Fanfare-for-the-Common-Man.aspx.
4. Quoted in Michael Steinberg, “Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man,” The San Francisco Symphony (2017), accessed August 22, 2019, https://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/Copland-Fanfare-for-the-Common-Man.aspx.
5. Ibid.
6. Quoted in Mandalit del Barco, “On ‘Fanfare For The Common Man,’ An Anthem for the American Century,” National Public Radio (2018), accessed August 22, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2018/07/19/629875534/on-fanfare-for-the-common-man-an-anthem-for-the-american-century.